One by One
by Beautiful-Oblivion321
Summary: The Flock is still on the run. But what happens when they're being targeted, one by one? What happens when The School tries to harness the Flock's special powers? Faxness.
1. Oven

**My very first story. Fanfiction, here I come!**

Have you ever been baked alive?

"Max, I think my feathers are sweating." Nudge complained.

Yeah, well, that's what it feels like to spend an entire day flying through a desert. It was hard to even keep _my _wings flapping, but Angel and Gazzy looked just about ready to tumble toward the desert sand.

"I'm fine, I swear." Angel said, reading my mind.

"Somehow I doubt that." I mumbled. She glared at me. "Look, it's about forty more miles. Can you all make it?" I asked. There was a chorus of, "Yeah."

"Um... we could play 'I spy,'" The Gasman offered.

"Oh, yeah!" Iggy said brightly. "I spy with my little blind eye... something sandy."

"Okay, okay, bad idea." Gazzy mumbled.

"I miss Colorado!" Total whined.

Fang sighed. "Someone kill me."


	2. Loss

"Grass! Oh, I kiss the sweet ground!" Nudge pulled into a dive, pulling up at the last second and coming to a running stop. She fell to her knees and her lips connected with the grass.

"I bet your kissing dog pee." Gazzy said, but by his grin I could tell that he was as pysched to be out of that oversized sandbox as Nudge was. The rest of us landed.

"Now can we _eat_?" Iggy snapped.

"Yeah, let's find a Burger King or something." Angel agreed.

"Fine." I said, spreading my tawny wings. "But fly high, we don't need to be seen." I ran a few feet then leaped into the air, powering my wings up and down to ascend again.

"Wait, are dogs aloud in Burger Kings?" Total asked, flapping his tiny wings hard, trying to keep up.

"We'll sneak you in." Angel assured him.

We neared a town, and we flew higher to avoid the curious eyes of the humans.

"Max." Fang pulled up beside me, and I had to pull further away to avoid his big black wings.

"Yeah?" I asked.

He nodded his head to the side, and I turned my head to look.

"Not now!" I groaned.

"What?" Iggy asked as the others turned their heads to look.

"Flyboys." Gazzy explained.

"We were just gonna eat too!" Nudge yelled, slapping her hand against her forehead.

I sighed. "Total, get out of here, those chicken wings of yours will get you caught within about five seconds. Gazzy, stick with Iggy. Brace yourselves, guys."

"I'm staying h—" Totals complaint was cut off by his surprised yelp as Fang grabbed him and threw him through the air. The little dog yowled, trying to slow himself down, flapping his wings. But he was a good fifty feet away by the time he was able to stop himself. "Fine, I'll scat!" He growled. "But I could have brought down a Flyboy if I wanted to!"

And then we clashed. I swung my fist through the air, and it collided with a Flyboy's nose.

Fang grabbed Nudge by the wrists and swung her in a circle through the air. Her boots collided with four Flyboys' stomachs. It was a move we had been practicing, with the older kids swinging the younger ones. It worked well.

Gazzy and Iggy battered away at the Flyboys around Angel as she concentrated on bringing Flyboys down with her mind.

One by one, the Flyboys broke away. Then the six of us were left, huffing and puffing, focusing on staying aloft.

Suddenly Gazzy pointed. "I think one of them got away."

"Let it go." I advised. "He can't do anything.

"Where's Total?" Angel piped up, worried, her head whipping from side to side. "I can't sense his thoughts! He's nowhere near!"

"Ange, calm down." I soothed. "He'll turn up. C'mon, everyone, let's look."

But Total was nowhere in sight. The little talking dog that had been our companion for so long, that had grown wings in our company, had disappeared.

He was just gone. No explanation.


	3. Promise

"I just don't get it, Fang!" I said, cradling my head in my hands.

"None of us do." He responded quietly. "How could we?"

I had ordered a few hotel suits with my credit card for Angel's sake. If she was going to have to weep over the loss of Total, at least she wouldn't have to do it in some crappy hotel.

Fang sat down beside me on the bed and draped his arm over my shoulders.

"It's all my fault. I told him to leave, and I shouldn't have." I moped.

"I'm the one that threw him." Fang muttered. I grinned a little at the memory and looked up at him. But he wasn't smiling. "Besides, if the Flyboys were trying to get Total, I think they would have got him, wether he was with us or not."

I shrugged, my shoulders moving up and down under his arm.

"Where do you think they took him?" I asked. "Do you think it's like that time they took Angel? Do they want to experiment?"

"Maybe. But I think it's probably just to lure us in." He replied.

I rested my head on his shoulder. "Then we'll just let them. Because I'm getting that dog back. For Angel."

Fang looked at me, but said nothing.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Fang and I broke apart just before Angel stepped into the room, not waiting for permission.

She stared at me for a second, then she ran forward and collapsed against me. "I want him back, Max! Please get him back!"

I looked at Fang helplessly through Angel's hair. I melted on the inside as she wept in my arms.

Fang shrugged.

"Oh, thanks for the help!" I mouthed, but didn't say out loud.

"We'll get him back, Ange, we'll get him back."

Angel sniffed and looked up, wiping tears from her eyes. "You promise?"

I hesitated. "I promise."

Angel smiled, then pulled away and left the room.

Once the door had closed, Fang sat by me again. "Max?" He asked, looking at me with piercing dark eyes.

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure you can keep that promise?"


	4. Back to Itex

"Where are we going?" Iggy asked, rubbing the sleep from his blind eyes.

"Itex Headquarters." I responded, already unlocking and opening the window. The cool night air called to us.

"Didn't we just barely escape them?" Nudge asked as she sat on the windowsill, getting ready to push off.

"Yeah." Fang said, then shoved her out the window. She yelped in surprise, but returned to our view a moment later, flapping her fawn-colored wings.

"Hilarious, Fang." She muttered. Iggy and Gazzy followed her, then Fang. I helped Angel out the window, then leaped out after her.

We took off into the night. It felt good to fly. The wind seemed to wash away our troubles.

"We're not going to have to go through another desert, are we, Max?" Gazzy asked, panic tinting his voice.

I laughed. No, Gazzy, I promise.

The younger kids flew in front, while Fang, Iggy and I took up the rear. I was careful not to think of Fang and I's conversation, just in case Angel got curious and pried at my mind.

"So, how are we going to get in?" Iggy asked from my left.

Fang nodded from my right. "We need a plan."

I sighed. "I haven't really worked that part out yet. But you know, these things usually work themselves out for us. Remember?"

Fang rolled his eyes while Iggy laughed. "Yeah, that's how it tends to be with us." Iggy said, then flapped a little harder to catch up with Nudge.

"What happens if we can't get that dog back?" Fang asked me quietly. The younger ones couldn't have heard him, because they were chattering away. Especially Nudge.

"_That dog _has a name, and it's Total. We'll get it back. I promised Angel. And I keep my promises." I snapped at him.

"Yeah, I guess." He paused. "I wonder if the Flyboys will come back for one of us."

"Over my dead body." I hissed.

Fang looked at me with genuine worry in his eyes. "What? What's wrong?" I asked him.

He raised an eyebrow, his old emotionless self back. "It's just..."

"Just what?"

"I can't imagine what I'd do if you died. Don't ever sacrifice yourself for one of us, Max. You're important. You're going to play a big part in something. That's why The School made you leader."

Then he made one huge flap, and pulled ahead of me. I was left looking after him, eyes wide, mouth open.

_I'd sacrifice myself for you, Fang. _


	5. Another One Down

It was nice to draw real blood for once.

"Every time." Iggy muttered as he swung his leg through the air. "Every time we start to have some peace and quiet, some evil experiment shows up to ruin our day." His foot collided with an erasers stomach.

"Well, at least they're not flyboys." Nudge offered as her fist collided with a wolf muzzle.

Suddenly a big hairy arm hooked around my waist and yanked me into the trees. I screamed and flailed wildly.

"Calm down, I'm just going to take you back to the school." A gravelly voice whispered.

"FANG!" I screamed. Then a needle jabbed into my arm, and everything went black.

**Fang's P.O.V.**

I heard my name being cried out, and I did a double take, seeing that Max was nowhere in sight. I sprinted into the trees to see Max knocked out in an eraser's arms.

The eraser looked up at me with a wolfy grin. "Is this your girl?" He asked, raising her up by the neck and jostling her around.

"Get off of her!" I shouted, tensing the muscles in my legs and then lunging forward.

I collided with the eraser, and we tumbled to the ground in a flurry of fur and feathers.

His claws slashed across my ribs, but I pulled my arm back and unleashed a punch. I grinned with satisfaction as I felt bones in the eraser's muzzle snap. The eraser yelped and pulled away. He galloped off into the trees, and I whirled around to check on Max. She looked fine to me.

**Max's P.O.V.**

"You idiot. The claws are a part of the eraser to be avoided." I muttered as I tore another piece of cloth from my sweatshirt and tied it around Fang.

"Really? I couldn't tell." Fang mumbled. I yanked hard on the strap I was tying around him, and he winced.

I finished tying up his wound, and he swiped his shirt off of the ground and slipped it over his head. I was still groggy from the drug that the eraser had given me, but I stood up anyway. I swayed a little, and stretched out my wings. "Let's get going." I said, doing a head count, then something occured to me.

"Nudge. Where's Nudge?"


	6. Max?

Fang looked up, followed by the gazes of Angel, Gazzy, and finally Iggy, though he couldn't see anything.

"Gone?" Iggy asked in despair.

"Gone?" Angel whimpered.

"Gone?" Cried Gazzy.

"Gone." I whispered. "Arg!" I reared back and slammed my head against the nearest tree. _Maximum, don't do that. _Jeb's voice sounded in my head.

_Why not? _I responded. _My Flock is being stolen from me. I feel helpless Jeb, so just go away._

Jeb didn't reply.

_Max? _

This time it was Angel's voice in my head. I was now punching the tree with all my might, savoring the pain. _Yes, sweetie?_

_Can you please stop hurting yourself? Can we go get Total and Nudge back now?_

I unclenched my bloody knuckles and took two steps away from the tree. "Okay, I'm fine now." I huffed.

"Doesn't look like it." Gazzy mumbled.

I whirled around and my wings flew open. "Let's go."

The five of us took flight, our regular formation incomplete without Nudge and Total.

We had flown about twenty miles in silence, high in the air, so that the people in the towns below would think we were just low flying birds. But then Angel broke the silence.

"Max?" She asked, just like she had a while earlier inside my head.

"Yeah?" I answered, afraid of what was going to happen next.

"Which one of us is next?" She asked in a tiny voice.

I just kept flying, my mouth slightly open, my wings beating robotically.

"No one will be next Ange. I won't let anyone else leave me." I whispered.

Needless to say, I fell asleep that night with one arm wrapped around Angel, the other hand around Gazzy's wrist, my foot resting on Iggy's ankle, and Fang's hand touching my shoulder.

I vowed to myself that I _would _protect my Flock.


	7. Explosives Are Great

"You want me to blow up the building?" Iggy asked in astonishment.

I clamped my hand over his mouth. "Not so loud, moron! The kids are sleeping!" He sighed and removed the hand. He glared at me. "And no, not the main building, just every Itex building we pass by on our way to the headquarters. You got a problem with that?" I added.

Iggy grinned. "What makes you think I have a problem with explosives?"

I grinned broadly. I wasn't worried about killing any other experiments, because we knew that Itex had already either killed them all, or let them expire. "So you'll do it?"

"Yeah, but I need supplies." He looked up, and the moon reflected in his sightless eyes. "Let's go rob a store."

I snickered. "Sure thing." I placed my hands in the cool dirt and stood up. I kicked Fang in the side. I snorted and flipped over, blinked a couple times and looked up at me with puzzled eyes.

"We're gonna blow these Itex people into meaty little chunks. Iggy and I are going to rob a Home Depot or something, so you have to baby-sit."

"No way!" Fang shouted. Gazzy and Angel stirred from their spots in a nearby tree. "Let 'em come with us, 'cause I'm not missing out." He huffed.

"Fine, then." I mumbled. "Angel, Gazzy! You ready to party?"

Gazzy tilted backward off of his branch, letting me catch him. "Yep." He said, looking up at me.

Angel opened her snowy wings and fluttered down, landing lightly on the forest floor. "Uh huh." Then she added in my head, _What for, Max?_

_Well... we're getting rid of Itex._

_Alright! _She squealed mentally. I smiled.

"Right now?" Gazzy asked.

I looked at Iggy, waiting for an answer. "Now or never." Iggy replied.

"Woo!" Gazzy punched the air. "Let's go, then!"

He bunched his muscles, then jumped up vertically, opening his wings in mid-air and pumping them up and down.

I smiled, grabbed Angel by the waist, and hurled her into the air. She cheered and flapped her wings, flying up to join The Gasman.

The rest of us took flight. Iggy reached down and dug a map out of Fang's pack, telling us the nearest town.

I breathed in deeply. Flight always soothed my troubles, and I couldn't help but smile as the wind raced through my feathers.

We dove downward a quarter mile from the town. I pulled up at the last second and landed, and I started to jog, afraid of how much time we had to make the robbery.

"Iggy, what do we need?" I asked.

Iggy rambled on about different parts and pieces that I'd never heard of. "Um... great, thanks." I told him. He laughed.

"Max, couldn't we just buy this stuff with your Max Ride card?" Angel asked.

I puzzled over the thought as we turned the corner of the hardware store. "Sweetie, I have no idea how much money is on that card, and what would the clerk think of three teenagers and two little kids buying explosive materials?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Angel admitted.

"Besides, Ange, stealing is _so _much simpler." I added.

Angel giggled.

"Gee, Max, you're such a great role model." Iggy mumbled.


	8. We're Not Alone

I jammed the crowbar under the window(don't ask where the thing came from, we're bird kids, we have resources), then folded in my wings and let myself hang there. Slowly, the window creaked open, and I winced at the loud noise. I opened my wings again and yanked back the crowbar.

"Angel, sweetie?" I asked, "do you think you could get in there, then unlock the front door for us?"

Angel nodded, gave me a quick hug, then opened her wings and flew up to the window. She grabbed the edge and pulled herself through. I smiled. She was a brave little six-year-old.

We sprinted around to the front of the store. Angel appeared a moment later, barely being able to stop flying in time before she hit the glass door like a fly. She fumbled with the security pad for a moment, but finally just ripped it off.

I flinched, and waited for an alarm to sound.

It didn't.

"Go Angel! Yeah!" Gazzy cheered as his little sister shoved the door open. She was grinning. "I couldn't figure out the pad. Nudge, you should have been the one to go in there, because you would have been able to—" She cut herself off. "Oh yeah." She whispered.

I gathered the little girl into a hug. "Ange, we're gonna get her back. Her _and _Total. Got it?"

Angel sniffed. "Yeah."

"Alright, now lets get moving, only an hour until daylight." I told her.

"An hour?" Iggy cried. "Max, come with me. Gazzy, go with Fang and Angel and find this." He pushed a list toward the beaming Gazzy, who was obviously happy to have himself recognized.

"Kay!" Gazzy exclaimed. He grabbed Angel by the wrist and dragged her into the store. Fang shrugged, and followed.

Iggy sprinted into the store, and I rolled my eyes and followed. I stepped inside and did a double take, looking for Iggy. "Up here!" He called.

I glanced up, and saw that the ceiling was incredibly high. "It'll be faster." He explained.

I grinned, ran forward, jumped onto a shelf, then jumped into the air.

Iggy was busy looking at his list. He then pointed to a department, then flew off, with me on his tail.

After we'd gathered up all of Iggy's crap, we started circling the store, looking for the rest of the Flock.

We spotted them, and landed. Suddenly Iggy leaned over to me and murmured, "Max, please don't look, but we're not alone. There are erasers behind us, I can hear them."

We kept on walking toward the others, who had their backs to us, but I listened intently. Sure enough, there was the clack of claws, the soft growls and-ew-was that drool dripping on the floor?

"Can they fly?" I whispered back. Iggy pursed his lips, then nodded.

"I can hear the rustle of their feathers." He answered me.

I cursed under my breath.

We reached the others, and Iggy started whispering to them, explaining what was going on.

It felt like we were in the setting of a horror movie. The dark, deserted store, the ominous clicking of claws.

"When I say three," Iggy murmured, "Fly. They can fly too, but we're faster and more agile."

He then pointed to his shopping list. "I need one more of these." He said loudly. He pointed to a different section. "And two more of these."

I had to grin slightly at what he was doing.

"And as for these," he went on, "I still need THREE!"

In an eruption of feathers, our wings whipped open and we sprang into the air.


	9. Done

The erasers cursed as we fluttered toward the ceiling. The leaped into the air after us, and, in my horror, one of them grabbed Angel's ankle.

"Fang!" I screamed, he turned his head, then lowered himself, placing an iron grip on Angel's wrist. I grabbed the other one, then pounded my wings up and down. I kicked the eraser in the face, and he yelped and let go.

Together, we yanked Angel back toward the ceiling.

"Max!" Iggy shouted. I turned my head to see him holding onto Gazzy's Ankle while three erasers tried to yank Gazzy away.

Angel darted toward her brother, but I grabbed her around her tiny waist. "Get out of here." I murmured in her ear.

Angel looked at me solemnly and nodded. I released her, and she angled her wings and flew for the door.

Fang was already beating up the erasers that were holding onto Gazzy, and I started soaring over to where they were.

Fang grabbed an erasers wings and yanked them backward, forcing them to touch behind the eraser's back. The eraser, yelped, her wings folded, and she fell toward the ground.

But another eraser came up behind Fang and kicked him in the head. Fang groaned, and started to plummet. Before I could even beat my wings again, Gazzy was yanked away from Iggy, and the eraser's glided toward the door.

Gazzy screamed and writhed around, flailing his fists and legs and biting the erasers on the arms. One of them slashed Gazzy across the face, and sticky blood started to dribble down the eight-year-old's cheek. He kept on fighting.

"Hang in there, Gazzy!" I yelled, desperately trying to move faster. But the erasers were already out the door.

That's about two-hundred pounds landed on my back.

I hit the floor, and everything went black.

"Max?" Someone jostled my shoulders lightly. "Max!" They shook harder this time.

I moaned, and my eyes slowly opened. Fang was looking down at me. As soon as my eyes locked with his, all emotion in his dark gaze disappeared.

We were outside the department store. The sun was beginning to edge up over the hills.

I coughed, and sat up. "Iggy and Angel?" I asked, looking around. Fang nodded off to a patch of trees, where Angel sat, sobbing on Iggy's shoulder. Iggy looked helpless, having no idea how to deal with Angel's tears.

"Come on." I muttered, getting up. Fang nodded and followed silently.

"Angel, honey?" I asked as we drew nearer. The front of Iggy's shirt was drenched.

Angel's body was shaking and rocking with sobs. She looked up at me through her tears. "They took him away, Max. They took my brother away."

I held my arms open for her, but her face suddenly went hard. "This is your fault." She hissed. "They took Total away because of you, and then they took Nudge. You said that they wouldn't take any more of us away, but they _did _Max! They did! You lied to us, Max! You lied!"

She pushed away from Iggy and started to run. She disappeared into the trees, then I spotted her a moment later, her snowy wings pulsing up and down, her golden locks whipping around through the wind.

"I'm done with you Max!" She shrieked, her piercing, high pitched voice cutting through the air. "I'm done!"


	10. One

I stood there, completely and utterly stunned. "Angel..." I whispered. I shook my head. "That's right, it is my fault." I murmured, nodding now. Accepting it. "She's right."

"Go get her, you moron!" Iggy shouted, obviously realizing that Angel had flown away.

It snapped me out of my surprise. I nodded and lunged into the air, quickly pursuing Angel.

It didn't take long to overtake her. Her wings were tiny compared to mine, and struggled to get anywhere fast.

"Angel, I..." I said, flying directly over her.

Her wings suddenly folded in, and I swooped down to grab her before she even fell a foot. I held her close, rocking her in my arms as I swerved backward and landed again in the patch of trees. Sobs rocked her entire body, and I pressed my face against her hair.

"They're going to take me, Max." She whispered. "They're gonna take me next."

I gaped at her. "Angel, they will not take you away from me." I said sternly. "I promise."

She sniffed and nodded into my shoulder. "Okay, Max, okay." Her voice had taken on a disbelieving tone.

Iggy approached me, with Fang trailing behind him. "We might as well get going." I murmured.

Iggy looked at me, his sightless eyes filled with anger. "Yeah, sure Max. Let's forget about Gazzy."

I quickly removed Angel's finger's from their hold on my shirt, and I set her on the ground. Then I bounded forward and grabbed Iggy around the wrist just as he took off. I yanked him roughly to the ground, where he stumbled and lost his footing, falling onto his but.

"Hey! You think I don't care that everyone's disappearing? You think I don't care that I'm losing my family?" I screamed at him. "This isn't even my flock anymore!" I opened my arms to show the four of us who were left, though, of course, he couldn't see. "I know that them taking Gazzy is a huge blow to you, but it's a blow to all of us, so suck it up and keep your mouth shut!"

I whirled around, refusing to look at the bewildered look on Iggy's face.

Angel was staring at me with wide, fearful eyes. I scooped her up. "Let's go." I said, taking off. Then I remembered something. "Angel, would you rather fly by yourself?" I asked her, looking down.

She looked at me, tears starting to come back to her eyes. "No thanks." She whispered.

I heard the beat of big wings as Fang took off, then a second set of beats as Iggy followed. I took comfort in the sounds that our wings made as they moved, like multiple hearts beating alongside each other.

But there were too many hearts missing for my liking.

"Ig, I'm sorry." I said after a long period of silence.

"S'okay Max. You had a right to yell at me." Iggy responded.

Silence descended on us again as the sun appeared fully over the distant hills. But this time it was more comfortable, and it didn't crackle with tension like usual.

And right then, the four of us were one, with one goal: Getting our family back.


	11. Drop The Bomb

"Get out of my light." Iggy snapped, elbowing me roughly in the ribs. I grunted and took a step back, but still watched Iggy carefully connect and disconnect wires.

"Are you almost done?" I asked for the tenth time.

"Yep." Iggy huffed. "That's the last bomb."

"Woo!" I punched the air. "Itex is going down." Fang looked at me like I was some deranged toddler. I grinned.

My wings opened in anticipation. "Let's go, the first Itex is only about five miles away."

Iggy looked at me. "Right now?" He asked. He looked exhausted.

"Yes, right now. Look, if you don't want to come, don't come, but I want to see the meaty little chunks of whitecoats flying through the air."

Iggy rolled his eyes. "Of course I'm coming. Here, put this in your pack, and whatever you do, _don't break it_!" He said, gently holding out the bomb. I took it from his hands and placed it carefully in my pack.

"Ange, you ready?" Angel looked up at me from where she sat on the ground. She nodded. I held out my hand, and she took it and stood up, opening her wings as she did so.

Fang placed the remaining two bombs in his pack, and we took off, ascending quickly into the sunset. The sun was completely gone by the time we were at the Itex building. I zoomed off with Angel, while Fang and Iggy went to different parts of the building.

I took the bomb and a flash light out of my pack.

I held the flashlight so that it was facing the stars, and then I flashed it once. Twice.

I took a deep breath.

And flashed it for the third time.

I flicked a switch on the bomb, and dropped it.

I grabbed Angel's wrist. "Come on." There was a flash of white feathers in my face as she took off toward the sky. I let go of her and followed.

Then something hit me.

The experiments were supposed to be expired. They were all supposed to be gone. But the erasers. They had just recently shown up again. Did this mean that there were other experiments inside that building, experiments like me and my Flock? That just wanted to be free?

"Fang!" I screamed. Then the shock wave hit me. It felt like my wings were being ripped from my back, and I was thrown backward, searching for Angel in the chaos.

I grabbed her around the waist and held her close until we stopped tumbling. I let her go and she started flapping again, looking at me with huge eyes.

"Angel, get out of here." I told her, carefully avoiding her wings as I placed my hands on her shoulders. "Tell Iggy to leave too. Fang and I need to do something."

Angel opened her mouth, but closed it again as if she didn't really want to talk. In the end she nodded, turned around, and flew away in a flash of snowy white feathers.

Someone grabbed my wrist, and I muffled a shriek. I turned around, but it was just Fang. "Fang, the erasers... they aren't expired." I said.

He nodded. "I know." He then looked down at the blazing mass of buildings below us. "But how can we get in?"

I shook my head. "We're gonna have to figure it out, because we can't let the experiments burn to death."

I locked eyes with Fang, and I think he knew that this was something I had to do. "I'm going in there." I said.

"And I'm coming with you." He responded, eyes narrowed.

I smiled, turned around, and folded my wings.


End file.
